


Revenge

by Stay_Frosty



Series: Revenge [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Hydra (Marvel), Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Irondad, Parent Tony Stark, Physical Abuse, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Bucky Barnes, Sakaar (Marvel), Uncle Steve Rogers, non con is not done by Loki btw !!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2019-10-31 06:46:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17844428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stay_Frosty/pseuds/Stay_Frosty
Summary: Tony Stark's daughter was taken to Sakaar and right into the hands of Loki, who uses her to take revenge on the avengers





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! just want to clarify that there is going to be no actual sexual interaction between Loki and the reader :) Loki is a shit but he isn't heartless !! it may be suggested later on but that's only is mind games against Tony and not his actual intentions

Loki had spent many months on Sakaar and had finally put all of the troubles of his old life behind him. Unlike on Asgard, the people on Sakaar treat him with complete, unwavering admiration. The strangest part about it, he found, was that he seemed to return the same amount of loyalty and respect as he was given. It hadn't necessarily occurred to him that it wasn't domination or the throne that he had been fighting for his entire life; it was simply acceptance that he ached for, and found by accident on this planet. The once introverted, attention staved prince was now living a life of luxury without the fear of being lost or forgotten about. Without a doubt, he missed Thor - despite his efforts to convince himself that he didn't. Yet the guaranteed safety and feeling of being content kept him grounded to the planet of Sakaar, and he made no attempt to seek out his brother.

After a long day of mingling with guests and sipping exotic drinks that gave him a wonderfully light and care free feeling, Loki was certainly ready for a lie down and a decent nights sleep. As he excused himself from the party that had already lasted a few hours too long, a conversation between a scrapper and the Grandmaster had caught his attention. 

"uh huh a bit young but she seems strong enough. where is she from?" Grandmaster asked, raising an eyebrow towards the young girl tied to a chair, who could not be much older than 17. Her prominent yet lovely features fit together nicely to create a beautiful girl with soft brown eyes and long auburn hair that she currently had tucked carelessly behind her ear. She wore an expression that was a mix of exhaustion, fear and anger. A small part of him felt sorry for the poor girl, another side of him was too tired to care what happened her. After all, this was not the first time he had witnessed a terrified and confused potential contender be dragged in and interrogated by the Grandmaster, and it wouldn't be the last. He was about to trudge off to his room which was located on the same level as many of the other highly ranked people of Sakaar, but stopped in his tracks as the scrapper arrogantly replied "earth". A cocky smirk played on her lips. 

"I'm sorry, i don't mean to interrupt, but did you just say earth?" 

Loki wasn't entirely sure why exactly the mention of Midgard caught his attention so much, nor why he was interested enough to find out more but he went through with it regardless. Without much thought, he came to the conclusion that it was because of the events that unfolded in New York 5 years ago. After all, it made sense and was at least some sort of explanation to his odd behaviour. He wasn't quite certain whether his interest was sparked by anger or guilt and since the latter was a foreign feeling to the God, one that seemed rather unlikely, he settled on the idea that he was still annoyed by his foiled attempt to take over Midgard. 

"how did you retrieve her without being caught? Midgardians are all ever so nosey" 

The girl in the seat remained silent, the terrified look still plastered on her features. Upon further glances, Loki had noticed a scar above her eyebrow and just below her lip; he was suddenly intrigued as to where she had acquired these marks. Her hands and arms were littered with scars also, as well as a layer of dirt and fresh bruises that locate themselves there also. He removed his attention from the poor soul in front of him and back to the scrapper, of whom still looked smug. Perhaps this is how Thor felt living with me all of his life he thought to himself. 

"We aren't all terrible at controlling the human race, Loki" she spat, using the story had Loki had told when confided in the people of Sakaar against him, leaving him feeling bewildered and betrayed. Perhaps this is also how Thor felt living with me. Despite being aware that the scrapper was simply envious of his position and his place on Sakaar, her words still pissed him off a tremendous amount. 

"Loki?" the girl finally spoke up. Her voice was soft, seemingly innocent and it trembled ever so slightly as she said his name. The God raised an eyebrow at her, encouraging her to say something else. "you're the monster who attacked New York" oh. Loki froze, unsure what to say. Should he apologise? Laugh? Threaten the poor girl? No. "you nearly killed my dad!" now that caught his attention. He wondered whose daughter she was. Perhaps Clint Barton's? He did mention his children even when Loki had taken over his mind. Captain Rogers? A possibility yet unlikely as she didn't resemble him at all. Probably not Banner's a she was far too confident to be the shy scientist's offspring. A wicked smile played on Loki's lips as the realisation clicked. "Tony Stark's daughter" he observed out loud. 

Oh he liked this. If it wasn't for Stark then perhaps his plans would have been much more successful than they actually were. He was sure he had gotten over his rage and the pure embarrassment of the attack years ago but it seems that it all came bubbling back. With the scrapper mocking him and Stark's daughter recalling the event he found a new found hatred towards his failure and anyone involved. He yearned for revenge once again and now had the perfect opportunity to receive it: Tony Stark's most precious relic in his hands, for him to do whatever he wants with.


	2. Chapter 2

"Grandmaster, may i have a word?" Loki asked, pulling the grandmaster to one side. Usually, touching the grandmaster would result in some sort of ridiculously dramatic punishment that wasn't at all necessary, but it seemed that Loki's actions had been excused- as they always were. Grandmaster nodded and Loki continued with his request.

 "she shouldn't be a contender, she's far too young. She would be destroyed within seconds, and the crowed might not react well to that considering her age" grandmaster said nothing, but he did listen intently to what Loki had to say. He always did seem to value Loki's opinion. "the audience likes a fair and interesting fight. Watching a defenceless little girl be literally obliterated in such a short space of time would neither be entertaining nor comfortable for them to witness"

Loki did make a lot of sense, even though the only real reason he did not want her to compete was so that he could have her to himself. The idea of messing with Stark on such a high level sent a strange yet oddly welcome feeling down his spine. He could picture Tony's face, absolutely distraught- all smart comments lost in his bundle of sobs and his begging. It was an image he would love to see for real so he had to have the girl to himself.

"plus I have another rather interesting use for her" grandmaster raised an eyebrow to this. "it's rather personal but I will explain it later" Immediately, he came to a very wrong conclusion and even by his standards he found it horrifying, yet allowed Loki to take the girl regardless.

 The sleep that Loki yearned for was still lingering heavily with his tired eyes and the yawns that had escaped his lips several times. He decided to go to bed and deal with Stark's child in the morning.

 * * * 

Back on Earth, Tony Stark was about as calm as you would expect any man who had just lost his daughter to be. About an hour after she was supposed to be home, he began calling her over and over again. He hoped that maybe she was with Peter, but he hasn't seen her either and seemed almost as concerned as him. Then, he had resorted to tracking her but couldn't find a single trace of her whereabouts since she left school.

"Tony I need you to calm down" Natasha tried to sooth the hysterical engineer, but deep down she knew her words wouldn't help. He had spent the entire night trying to trace her, searching the streets and calling people to try and locate her but it was no use. Dark bags had started to appear under his eyes, and after his 4th cup of coffee that morning his hands were shaking. The man was fragile, and the slightest inconvenience would push him straight over the edge.

"Calm down? Are you serious?" He spat. Venom and anger laced his words but Natasha knew not to take it personally; the amount of stress Tony was under was extraordinary and he was bound to react badly. "My daughter is missing" he choked, clearly holding back tears. "Again, might I add. I almost lost her to HYDRA. I can't go through that again and neither can she"

Peter was in the room with them, as were Steve and Bucky but they each said very little. Steve, every now and then when he deemed it appropriate, would pull Stark into a hug and hold him closely for a few seconds. Where usually he would protest, Tony accepted the affection with gratitude under these circumstances and would even lean into the embrace. Sometimes he would even allow a few tears to fall.

Bucky had an augmenting feeling of dread building in his stomach. He prayed it wasn't HYRDA. He had been there with her a few years ago when it had happened; he knew the tortures they put her through- what they would put her through again given the chance. The horrific sound of her terrified screams, the ache he felt when he heard her sob, their moans, their taunts and their laughter. He had befriended the girl after they shared a cell, and he vividly remembered holding her in his arms whilst she sobbed. Bucky cared for her deeply and despite Tony's grudge against him over the winter soldier killing his parents, he appreciated the fact that he looked after Y/N for the year or so she was missing.

Peter? well he had just cut off emotions completely. He hadn't slept at all last night either. As soon as he heard Y/N was missing, he called May and told her he was going to be spending the night in the Stark Tower so that he could be there if she returned. He hadn't eaten anything since yesterday lunch either, which happened to be the last time he saw her. She was in the year above him at school, but that didn't stop them from being best friends and they spent every moment they weren't in class together. Now that she was gone? He felt empty, like a part of him went missing with her.

Natasha felt sick, absolutely broken but she stayed strong for Tony and definitely for Peter. Stark tried to get the boy to eat; he wanted to take care of him like he usually would but had little energy to do so. "It's probably not HYDRA" Agent Romanoff spoke, as if reading everyone else's mind. "If it was we would be able to track them, and they probably would have taken Bucky rather than Y/N. he's physically stronger so"

Nat made a lot of sense, but her words hardly brought comfort to the other avengers. At least if she was at HYDRA, Tony would have somewhat of an idea where she was and would be able to help her. Now though? He had no idea. "This is personal then" Tony spoke barely above a whisper, but the thick silence in the room made it easy for him to be heard.

Tony felt sick, he had pissed off plenty of people in his life and the thought of his daughter in the hands of any of them, no matter how insignificant they are, made him want to throw up with fear.

* * *

Y/N didn't sleep, not even for a minute; she was too scared to even close her eyes. Why did her family have to piss so many people off? First HYDRA, who had spent months experimenting on her and torturing her in god knows how many ways, and now this. Usually, if she had somehow gotten into a messy situation, (although it rarely happened to be fair to her) her father would manage to track her down and the rest of the team would help to retrieve her. However, this time she was unsure that would be possible. HYDRA at least kept her on earth: here, even if she _could_ get in contact with Tony, she had no idea where she even was. She was almost positive she could survive this. After all, she survived Zemo's relentless torture and abuse, and the attack on New York by the man who held her captive now- even though she contributed very little to it at her young age of 10. seeing her family again? That was something she did not see as likely. The thought absolutely destroyed her.

When she had arrived on this planet, she was strapped to a chair, but before the sun went down yesterday they had tied her to some soft of pillar so she was standing up instead. The cool metal of the restraints  pressed tightly against her wrists and ankles and she was convinced there would eventually be bruises and marks left there. Although she was in an open space, her restricted movement gave her the unnerving feeling of claustrophobia . After a few hours, she tried hard to ignore how tight her chest felt and how short and unsteady her breathing had become. 

Footsteps began to echo in the otherwise silent room around her, the rhythmic taps of boots against a hard floor keeping a slow and steady pace. With each second, they became louder, indicating that the source was moving further towards her. Eventually, after a few agonising seconds that genuinely felt like decades, Loki appeared in front of her. He wore a wide, menacing grin and his cold, unfeeling eyes seemed to bore into her soul. "Hello Dear" he cooed, moving much closer to her than she would have liked, his lips uncomfortably close to her neck as he spoke. The smug, evil expression remained plastered on his features. "did you sleep well?"

She remained silent, unconsciously holding her breath to minimize her sound, as if that would make her seem less visible- or less vulnerable at least. Closing her eyes, she grimaced and tried to turn away from him, his cold breath seemingly freezing her ear. "now, now". His voice was low, raspy yet somehow smooth and trickled effortless like honey off his tongue. His words were laced with patronization. "don't be like that"

He moved back and placed two gentle, ice-cold fingers under her chin and turned the trembling girls head to look at him. "I'm not going to hurt you" he said, as if it were obvious and she were ridiculous to assume otherwise. His words made out like the fear that was currently coursing through her veins was irrational and completely unnecessary.  "Not yet anyway. Not until we can put on a show for your father and the other dimwits you call friends. How long do you think it will take him to completely lose his mind?". She cringed as his lips grazed her ear ever so slightly as he whispered. "how long do you think it will take him to start begging? Oh that would be fun to watch" she could have sworn he chuckled after saying that. He moved away from her ever so slightly and started to pace backwards and forwards in front of where she stood for a few seconds, before turning to face her once again. He moved closer to her, directly in front of her to the point where his body was almost pressed against hers. She felt his hand plant itself gently against her hip. "what do you think i would have to do to push him over the edge?"

A strange noise escaped her lips that was somewhere between a squeal and a whimper. The overwhelming sense of helplessness made her legs weak and she was convinced that if it wasn't for the chains around her, she would have buckled and collapsed. Loki observed her with amusement, thinking if all the ways he could possibly torture Tony Stark. He didn't care about keeping his plans a secret. He _wanted_ stark to know he had his precious daughter, he wanted him to see what he was doing: he wanted Tony to know who's mercy he was at. It's not like Stark could do anything when he finds out, they're on another planet that even Loki doesn't know how to get off. He doubts that it is traceable either. As far as Loki was concerned, he was invincible and he enjoyed that very much.

"you should be thanking me" he pointed out. "if it wasn't for me you would be dead very soon. I have no doubts that you can protect yourself, but no one has lived to tell the tale of fighting the Grandmaster's champion" a smile appeared on his face. "actually, you might know him; your father does". Y/N said nothing but raised her eyebrows in question. "the hulk"

"Uncle Bruce" she whispered. Dr Banner had been friends with Tony since she was about 10, and although in his human form he was not the strongest, Banner was one of the kindest, gentle and most intelligent people she knew. He was always good to go to for advice, and was probably one of the only reasons she passed her exams. Within the last year he had disappeared, and as relieved as she was to discover he was alive, she feared he was being abused and exploited. 

"i want you to know that this is truly nothing personal" Loki said. "in fact i quite like you. I expected Stark's daughter to be more irritating. It'll almost hurt me to do this"

"fuck you" she spat. "i don't  know what it is my dad id to make you so bitter, but using me isn't going to make you feel better. What is it that you want from him?"

Loki chuckled. He began walking circles around the pillar she was attached to.

 "revenge"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky relives some painful memories. Tony won't stop searching for his daughter, who Loki discovers is more like her father than he first thought. Peter misses his best friend. pepper and Steve are angels. Loki is a lil shit as per usual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you. have. no. idea. how hard this chapter was to post?? I have literally written it 3 times and then archive crashed and my work got deleted. this was supposed to be up yesterday and then again a few hours ago but neither worked. I'm praying for my own sanity that this has uploaded :'))
> 
> WARNING! this chapter includes scenes of torture and references to sexual abuse. please do not read if this is likely to upset you.

_Bucky flinched as he heard the howls of pain come from the room just down the corridor from his cell. At this point, he didn't actually think they were running any experiments on her- just having fun. He wanted nothing more than to protect the girl he had known for just under a year, but that had proven to be difficult when he was caged like an animal. The cell was cold, freezing even and the hard floor was lumpy and uncomfortable._

_The sound of knives being sharpened filled his ears, followed by the teenage girl's cries of agony. He could hear clearly the slicing of her skin and the dripping of her blood onto the floor, as well as her broken sobs that continued relentlessly._

_After a few minutes, that felt much more like a few hours, the sickly, wet sounds of opening wounds came to a halt but he could still hear her cries for help from just metres away. The only thing separating them was a thin wall._

_"Come on sweetheart, you were so good for us last night"_

_Bucky figured he'd be used to this by now, but he could never ever consider the sounds of someone be cared about deeply being hurt and tortured this way normal._

_"That's it. God you're so pretty when you cry"_

_He punched the cell wall in anger, hoping that his own bruised and bloody knuckles would distract him from what was happening. It didn't. Their words and her whimpers sent him over the edge. He was going to kill them._

_When they were done with her, they simply threw her back into the cell where she sat at the other end from him and buried her head in her arms in an attempt to muffle her cries._

_Blood ran freely from her arms and legs and made a small pool on the cold floor beneath them. Even in the darkness, the damage done to her half naked body was clear to see. The rest of the night was spent cleaning her wounds and bandaging them up with a part of his shirt that he'd ripped to do so. He then held her gently in his arms whilst she sobbed and he tried to sooth her. Neither of them slept last night._

Bucky jolted at the memory and stormed away into the kitchen. He was aware of the eyes on him, some sympathetic, others not so much. As selfish as it sounded, at least at HYDRA he could assess the damage and she wasn't alone. He would do everything in his power to make sure that she didn't end up back there, and didn't wish it for a single second, but he did wish he could be there with her. 

Steve's soft footsteps caught his attention and he quickly wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall. He made a noise that could only be described a whimper. 

"We'll find her, Buck" he assured him gently, placing an arm around his shoulder. He knew this, he knew that where ever Y/N was that she was strong and smart enough to survive but that wasn't the point. 

"I know. But what about before that? I've seen what she's been through and I don't know if she can cope with that again" 

Steve nodded, even he couldn't argue with that. He couldn't reassure him that the girl was safe because he had no idea, and the thought sickened him. 

Bucky couldn't believe what was happening. They'd only just managed to get her back to her normal self and the thought of that being taken away made his blood boil. Sure, at night when he couldn't sleep he would hear her moving gracefully around the compound for the same reason.  On the rare occasion she did fall asleep, due to exhaustion, usually when they were watching a movie and she was curled in Tony's arms, she would writhe and flinch in her nightmare then eventually jolt awake and fight for her breath. As well as this, getting her to eat full meals had proven to be a difficult task, and often he would find her examining her body with sad eyes assessing the scars and marks that littered her body. 

However, she did smile more often. Eventually she began to attend school again and joined in battles too. He had only ever seen the broken and fragile little girl he held at HYDRA. Although he knew she was strong, she had to be to make it through that, mentally and physically, it warmed his heart to see her defences eventually drop a little. She was kind, and treated everyone and everything with unwavering respect. He admired her greatly for that. 

He even remembered the first time he'd heard her sing. After months of barely uttering a word to anyone, not even him or Tony, she was singing softly in the shower. 

_"Shh" Tony whispered, waving his hands in the air to emphasise he was serious. The room that consisted of Peter, Thor, himself and obviously Tony fell silent- even the boisterous god didn't utter a single syllable as they listened closely. She had a wonderful voice, and Bucky absent mindedly wondered how she sounded so nice after all the damage done to her throat. He quickly shook the thought and listened to her with a grin on his face._

* * *

Peter continued to stare aimlessly at the wall. He hadn't said a word all day, or even shown much sign of life at all. Tony was starting to get worried; one of his kids was in danger he didn't need the boy he saw as a son or maybe an annoying nephew hurting himself either. 

But he and Y/N were close, best friends even and it was so incredible to see her trust someone who wasn't him or Bucky. It was understandable why Peter was taking it so badly. 

He had only met her after the incident at HYDRA, and as much as she pushed him away and refused to talk, he never gave up on trying to be her friend. She never acted cold towards him, but she was quiet and distant. Eventually though, he said something dumb and made her giggle. His eyes lit up and he smiled also, proud of himself for finally getting through to her. He showed her that she wasn't broken, that she was still lovable and that it wasn't just people who already had an emotional connection to her before that cared about her now. 

He had met her during the dumb war between the avengers a few years ago. That must have killed her. In fact, at first she had no idea who the fight was against and would follow Bucky to the ends of the earth. However mid fight, she spotted iron man and fell to her knees on the ground below. He had seen her too, and dropped beside her with tears in his eyes. 

_"Baby" he whispered, enveloping him in his arms and removing her from the fight. She said nothing for a whole hour and curled herself further and further into his arms._

_Then Tony saw Bucky staring at her from a distance with sad eyes, and he flipped. He grabbed the winter soldier by the throat and began threatening him with god knows what._

_He ignored his daughter's screams to leave him alone. He had no idea they knew each other- what the man had done for her- and just saw him as a danger to her._

_"I don't know what it is you're fighting about, and I don't care. Get off him!". It was the first time she had spoken since he saw her again and he felt a hint of jealousy over how quick she was to defend the soldier._

_When he learnt her reasons though, he'd never felt more sorry for anything in his life.  He and Bucky had never truly seen eye to eye, but one thing he was certain about was that he cared about Y/N almost as much, if not the same amount, as he did. At the end of the day, she barely trusted or opened up to anyone. He knew there was some things she hadn't told him about HYDRA, probably because it hurt her so much to talk about it. That or she didn't want him to worry about her. If that was the case then he hoped she would talk to Barnes instead._

* * *

On Sakaar, Loki was occupied with figuring out how to get in contact with Stark. It would be difficult, and he had even considered travelling to Midgard to do so. Was he really willing to give up his new life to get revenge over something that happened in his own life? Would that not be a little bit pointless? He didn't completely dismiss the idea, but decided it should be a last resort.

It turns out that Sakaar had very advanced technology that could reach other planets easily. With Tony Stark's amazing technology, it was no problem sending him video footage or even broadcasting the events live. He would have to try that sometime, but for now he wanted to remain anonymous.

"I'm curious" Loki said, standing inches away from the girl who was still bound in metal. "Where did these scars come from?"  
  
He checked her face for some show of weakness, a flinch or some tears or something. However, the girl didn't even make eye contact with him. Other than biting her lip, she made no acknowledgement that he was even speaking to her. He sighed.

"You really aren't making this easy. I don't actually want to hurt you, but I'm not known to be patient"

Y/N glared at him. She showed no sign of fear on the outside, but on the inside she was utterly petrified.

"Your garments of courage are loose" he mocked.

"Sorry emo Shakespeare. Would you rather I begged for my life?" She definitely had Tony's humour, which for some reason infuriated the god. He pulled a knife from his back pocket and held it threateningly against her throat. The metal felt cool on her skin, and her breath audibly hitched.

"I'm not sure you have a choice" 

* * *  
In total Tony had been awake for over 48  hours, which was definitely not the longest period of time he had gone without sleep, but it was still concerning. He sat at the table, head in his hands and a glass of whiskey beside him.

Soon, the elevator opened and Pepper rushed in frantically. "Tony I'm so sorry I couldn't get here sooner. Has there been any news?"

He looked up at her with his blood shot eyes and shook his head. "Nothing" he choked. Pepper cupped his face softly in her gentle hands and kissed his forehead; Tony leaned in to her touch.

"How are you doing?" She asked, running her hands through his hair. He seemed like he was trying to form words, but gagged on them and began to cough and splutter with tears running down his cheeks.

"Shh I'm here Tony. Everything will be okay" she soothed. Eventually the man's breathing began to slow and calm.

"I'm terrified Pep" he whispered, burying his face in her shoulder. Pepper wrapped her wraps around him and held him closely, bringing him a small amount of comfort for the first time since two days ago.

"I know, Tony. Me too"

After a lot of convincing, Tony agreed to go to bed with Pepper. However, it made no difference. He still lay away for hours and hours and no matter how exhausted his body was, his mind would not allow him to sleep. He just couldn't stop thinking about Y/N: where she was, if she was safe but his brain wouldn't allow him to think positively. If his daughter was even still alive, she's probably somewhere wishing she wasn't- feeling scared and alone. His heart ached.

Eventually, he decided to get up and try once more to track his daughter, even if he was already completely aware that it wouldn't work. He had to try, he couldn't just give up on her and hope a lead would come  to him. Even if it was pointless, even if he wouldn't get any where he would never ever stop trying.

"Mr Stark?"

Tony turned to see Peter stood metres away from him in his pyjamas. The kid yawned, indicating that he hasn't slept enough either. "Hey kid" he smiled sadly at the boy. "Why aren't you in bed?"

Peter wandered over the him and wrapped his slim arms around Tony's waist, burying his face in the older man's chest. "I miss her, Mr Stark. It's weird without her here"

Tony returned the hug and held the kid silent for a few seconds before replying "me too, Pete"

His computer made a beeping noise, notifying him that he had some sort of message. He assumed it was from Rhodey, who said he was currently travelling back over seas and would be here as soon as possible, or maybe from Clint who had been contacting him regularly over the last two days. However, the sender had no name behind it. Tony sighed and opened it, Peter shrieked in disbelief when the few second video played back on the screen.

There was Y/N, strapped and tied to a pole, her face bruised and her toes barely grazing the floor below her. She was gagged, but her whimpers were audible. Stapled, literally fucking stapled to her body was a note containing the words "this is my bargain.


	4. chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tony receives a video and finds out who has his daughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so so sorry about the like 10day wait for this chapter? it's been one hell of a week. I've had exams, pretty sure my parents are getting a divorce and it's my birthday so I've been celebrating :) haven't had a great deal of time but i'm so glad I finally got this chapter finished. I hope you guys enjoy it. as usual thank you so much for the reads and the kudos and comments are always very appreciated. let me know what you think x

Tony stirred as he finally regained consciousness. His thoughts were fuzzy for a few moments, but he jolted visibly when he remembered the anonymous message. He attempted to get out of the bed he was in, but a gentle hand on his arm stopped him.

"Tony" Steve said his name softly, but the warning behind it was still there. It really wasn't safe for him to get up and move around so soon, and putting himself under stress could cause another reaction. However, Tony being Tony, was stubborn and protested.

"I'm not lying in here all day knowing there's something I could be doing to get her back" he snapped. Once again he tried to leave the bed.

"Tones please, you passed out due to stress. That could easily happen again if you don't give your body chance to recover"

Stark shook his head. "I'll be less stressed when she's home with us. Until then I'm not wasting a single second of precious time I could be using to find her"

Steve sighed. He knew arguing with him would be pointless but he tried anyway. "we will find her, Peter told us about the photo. Clint is here and Rhodey is on his way. When we find her you need to be fit enough to look after her"

As much sense as Rogers was making, Stark would not listen to him and decided that as her father he should be the one to find her. Not his friends because he was too weak. He shook  his head and powered past the soldier.

"No" he said firmly. "I'm helping. Now let me up Captain Spangles"

This time Steve didn't say anything and allowed the man in front of him to get up and leave the bed. Tony stalked down to the main compound and saw Clint, Natasha, Bucky and Peter gathered around the computer screen and analysing the picture. Each person spoke barely above a whisper, the atmosphere tense and melancholy.

Tony's stomach churned as he saw the picture again. His poor, poor baby girl. She looked so scared and exhausted. He just needed her home.

Another message popped up on the computer screen. His heart sank but he opened it. This time it was a video: maybe they'd get a look at her captor's face? He hoped so.

For the first few seconds, the screen showed Y/N strapped to a chair in nothing but her underwear. He couldn't get a good look of her face because she was looking at the ground, her body was so still and he panicked for a moment that she could be knocked out- or worse.

"Hello Anthony- enjoying the view?"

He knew that voice, all too well. The man who caused him nothing but pain and suffering for god knows how long. Stark had to focus all of his attention on not throwing up. His eyes darted to Peter. His terrified eyes never left the screen, he looked pale and Tony noticed that his nails were digging into his palms. Despite the jelly like feeling behind his knees, Tony moved closer to the boy and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Loki gracefully strode over to where Y/N was. On his face he wore a wicked, sickly smile that Tony would find great pleasure in punching. He settled himself behind her and waited for a few seconds, before grabbing her hair roughly and pulling it backwards so her head was facing the camera. Peter flinched beside him when he saw her face. On the other hand, Tony stayed still, although he did feel like he was going to collapse and there was a chorus of gasps that filled the room. Steve wore a sorrowful expression and looked away from the screen subtly whilst shaking his head. Clint looked horrified, after all he had children of his own and couldn't imagine how he would react if he were in Tony's shoes. Natasha's expression hadn't changed, yet her complexion became much paler than it previously was. Bucky stayed motionless, his hands clenched in fists as he glared at the screen before them.

Her face was littered with bruises, just like her body. Her eyes looked teary and bloodshot The bags under them indicated that she hadn't slept very much since she arrived. "say hello to your father, Y/N. Tell him how much fun we've been having" Loki smirked directly into the camera and winked suggestively. She squeezed her eyes closed as if she was forcing herself to stop tears that fell down her cheeks anyway.

"Son of a fucking bitch"  Tony growled in response to his daughter's pain.

"you know you really should be thanking me Stark. If it wasn't for me she would be dead. Believe it or not it wasn't actually me who brought your daughter here" he began to circle around the chair at an agonizingly slow pace, running two fingers along her cheeks as he walked past her face. "it was simply by chance i came across her, but im so glad I did. She's much less irritating as i expected the offspring of a Stark to be, at first she _did_ have a mouth on her, but we soon sorted that out didn't we darling?"

Y/N remained silent but cringed visibly at his words. Tony dreaded to think what he meant, what he did to her off camera. He felt like he was about to collapse again, but holding Peter kept him standing.

"Now, you took from me my chance of dominating the human race. I had the opportunity to rule a world, and you ruined it" Loki's words reeked of anger. Years later, he still held a grudge against him? "i think it's only fair i ruin your world- don't you think Stark?" he asked, drawing a knife and holding it against her neck for the second time. He held it there for a few moments, digging it into her throat hard enough for it to leave a mark, but not hard enough for it to break skin.

"i bet you aren't used to this are you, Stark? Being completely out of control- helpless, unable to save the most important thing in the world to you? I would love to see your face right now, i bet it's priceless. Now- why don't you sit back and enjoy the show?"

Without any further warning, Loki dug his knife into the skin just above her cheek and slowly dragged the blade along. She howled in agony through gritted teeth, her fragile hands gripping desperately to the sides of the chair she was tied to. Blood trickled carelessly down her face along with the salty tears that fell from her eyes, and Bucky began to worry that if she bit her lip any harder she would bite straight through it. Once again he dragged his knife across her skin, this time an inch for so below the last one, but this time to wound was longer and definitely deeper. The amount of blood that poured from her face was much more than before, yet her cries of pain seemed less.

"Pete look away" Tony whispered, completely aware of the likely hood the next injury inflicted would be much worse. The boy's eyes did not leave the screen despite the horrified expression he wore. "Peter" he said more sternly and pulled the boy into his chest. He held his head there gently as the boy finally gave in and relished in Tony's gentle embrace.

"three's the charm" Loki quipped before slicing into her again, this time in a vertical direction which cut through the middle of his previous two cuts. The tip of the blade seemed dangerously close to her eye, and despite everything Tony was thankful that it missed. "i think that's enough for today. We have some more fun to have but for the sake of decency i won't be doing it for the camera. Have a fun night"

The computer screen went black but the room stayed silent; no one had any idea what to say. All Tony could think about was the torture that his poor baby would be going through when the cameras were off, and the thought made him feel sick to the bottom of his stomach. He continued to hold Peter in his arms, and stroked the boy's hair to soothe him as he trembled slightly.

 

***

 

Eventually, her open wounds stopped pouring and the dry blood caked messily to her face. By now, her entire body was sore and aching, not only from the bruises and the cuts but from the painfully still position she'd been kept in for what had to have been at least three days, although she wasn't very sure of the date or time. At first, she tried to track the days based upon how many times Loki had visited her, assuming that he would only go to see her once a day. However his visits became more frequent and it seemed he would never mess around with her on a night as opposed to sleeping.

Although Loki had only filmed her once, to her knowledge at least, he had done many things off camera. He would belittle her more often than not, and only really resorted to physically violence if he was over bored or she did something to annoy him. Through his observations and tests he figured out that if he touched her in certain placed she would freak out and begin to violently sob and beg him to leave her alone. It was never anywhere sexual, and admittedly Loki found no pleasure in doing it, but her reaction was priceless and the sound of her broken breaths were like music to his ears. He would have to trigger a reaction like that in front of Tony, he thought to himself, preferably live.

He found himself becoming more and more curious as to the girl's past and why she was so flighty yet hard-faced and unafraid at the same time. Of course, he had asked her, but she would always tell him through gritted teeth that she wasn't going to talk about it, and no matter how often he would try to beat it out of her, she would remain silent. He then pondered how many other people had used her as a weapon against her father. Surely he wasn't the first man Tony Stark had pissed off? He was certain someone would have had similar plans to him, but by the looks of things had less morals.

Yes, despite everything Loki couldn't bring himself to hurt the girl too badly, and it concerned him that some day, if she begged too hard, he would pity her and send her back to her father. Now, beating her and cutting her pretty face open? That he didn't mind. She handled it well and he wouldn't have to feel weird doing it. Sexually abusing her? That was too far even for him. Her little whimpers and quiet begs for him to stop were too much, not fun enough to hear and he wasn't particularly interested in sex anyway. Sure, it would _really_ rile Stark up, but he figured his insinuations would do that enough.

Sometimes, on the rare occasion Y/N did sleep, he would analyse her. Not in a creepy way, as he said he felt no sexual attraction towards her or anyone for that matter; he was just trying to find out more about the girl. Unsurprisingly, her thrashes and whimpers during her sleep would tell him more about her past than she did when she was awake. Often she would scream and writher in the chair, and sometimes would even whimper "Bucky" or "dad". He was determined to find out who this 'Bucky' was but he figured she would spill with time. 

Her days spent on Sakaar soon turned into weeks and at this point she was positive there was no way she would get home. Eventually, it had gotten to the point where Loki would only hurt her when the camera was on and would otherwise leave her be. She was regularly brought food and water, and every now and then he would remove her from her restraints so she could roam around her room. The door was locked at all times of course so she couldn't escape, but she expected that any way. In all honesty she was simply grateful that she could move.

She really did miss her family though, and if she was left for more than a few hours, Loki would find her once again in a bundle, sobbing her heart out because she over thought everything. It killed her to know that her father probably hadn't slept in days, and was more than likely drowning himself in coffee or alcohol, depending on the time of day. It worried her that Pepper would have to handle him whilst he was in another one of his states where he wouldn't let anyone in to keep him well. She knew that her uncle Rhodey was probably with him now, trying to force him to eat or take a break from his work that he had no doubt hid away in.

Her mind then travelled to Bucky: how he most be feeling. She knew him so well; she knew he was probably driving himself insane trying to find her and would somehow manage to blame himself for everything. As much as she wanting to avoid thinking about it, she knew deep down that his nightmares were probably worse than ever, just like hers, and it hurt that she couldn't be there to hep him through them. Since HYDRA, the two had a habit of sensing when the other was troubled, and during those times would wordlessly wrap their arms around each other protectively. Tony had nearly killed him the first time he found them sprawled out on the couch with her cuddled into his side, but Steve managed to calm his mind and convince him that it was innocent and he was only protecting her.

Then she thought about Peter. Poor, poor Peter who was probably missing school right now because of her. He was probably worrying the hell out of his aunt and her dad and all of their friends at school who were probably as scared as him. Overwhelmed by thoughts, she broke down in tears once again. She would never cry like this in front of anyone, not her dad, not Peter, not even Bucky since HYDRA and certainly never Loki. She had the incredible talent of composing herself very quickly when she was proving her strength. In truth, she felt broken- but she would never let Loki have the satisfaction of destroying her like he wanted to.

Words could not describe how much she wanted to go home, but she figured it was utterly pointless trying to leave; the door would be locked and even if it wasn't? If Loki saw her he would probably killer her. He seemed to warm up to her slightly over the course of the last few weeks and seemed to almost care about her well-being? But she wasn't risking it regardless. Besides, even if she could escape her room there was no guarantee she would ever make it home to her family. At least here she has food, drink, a bed and usually Loki wouldn't hurt her too badly. It seemed for now, she had no choice


	5. chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Bucky argue over Y/N. Peter is sad :( Y/N reminisces on memories

Gathering in the compound, the team  sat in complete silence. The only noises were Tony pouring _another_ drink and Peter's unorganized breathing. "Barnes" Tony's speech was somewhat slurred, his voice was low and gravely. Drunk, clearly. The whiskey he held in his hand that wasn't propping his head up against the desk was enough indicator for that. His eyes were sunken, exhaustion making itself apparent.

"Back at HYDRA. what did they do to my daughter?"

Bucky froze, he hoped this conversation would never come up. Stark wouldn't have brought it up if he wasn't in the drunken state he was currently in, but even so he was stubborn and wouldn't drop it.

"Would Y/N be comfortable with us discussing this?". Low blow trying to make Tony feel guilty, but he didn't want to talk about Y/N behind her back. Especially not with an audience. Steve, Peter, Natasha, Clint and Sam were all sat in the same room as the drunken Stark.

 "She isn't here" Tony snapped, slamming his glass of whiskey against the table, creating a disorganised pool of liquor in front of him with the splash. "I need to know, I'm her father"

 "Tony" Steve said gently, always the voice of reason. He lay a hand on Tony's back, to which he flinched at first but relaxed almost immediately. "Peter doesn't need to hear this"

Stark knew he was right, but chose to ignore him anyway; his brain didn't process the consequences of what he was asking. The alcohol, of course, resulting in this. "Tell me" he growled, staring directly at Bucky with serious, menacing eyes.

 "We'll Uh, make ourselves scarce" Sam muttered and existed the scene, followed by Natasha and Peter, because honestly he didn't think he could handle hearing what Bucky was about to say. Only Steve, Bucky and Tony were left in the room.

 "They uh, used her to test the experiments on at first" he started, trying hard to keep his voice steady. "They weren't going to use her as a solider like me, I think, they just wanted to check that their shit worked"

 "They uh, hurt her, to find out if she was really as indestructible as they were trying to make her. Turned out she heals at a slightly quicker pace than other people, and her aging is probably slowed, but that's about it" The aging thing made sense, she was still quite short for a 17 year old girl and still had a very young looking face. She didn't look much different from when she was 15 years old.

"After they realised the healing thing was as far as they'd gotten, they stopped experimenting on her"

Stark poured another whiskey and closed his eyes. "So what did they do with her then?" His words were hesitant, like he didn't really want to know the answer, although the whole room had an idea of what it was. Bucky went to speak, but the words got stuck in his throat; he had never said them out loud before.

 "Tony" Steve warned calmly, knowing that some sort of shit storm would go down if they kept discussing this topic, especially with how intoxicated Stark was currently.  "Bucky's right: we shouldn't talk about this without Y/N"

Rolling his eyes, Tony diverted his attention to Steve and sighed. "Are you ever * _not_ * going to defend him cap?" He was angry. Angry at Bucky for knowing more about his daughter's pain than he did, angry at Steve for taking his side yet again, angry at the world because it was clearly just against him. Steve seemed not to take his digs personally and instead returned his hand to the drunken man's shoulder.

 "Tones, I know you're upset. We all are, but fighting against each other isn't going to bring back Y/N any faster". Something inside Tony snapped at Steve's words. He's upset? Fucking upset? Understatement of the century.

Laughing sarcastically, he finished his final glass of the burning liquor and slammed the glass down onto the table. "you're upset? Seriously? Is everyone here forgetting that she's _my_ daughter? Tell me Barnes, have you ever had the most important thing in your life ripped away from you and dangled in front of you but still out of your reach no matter how damn hard you try?"

To be fair to him, Bucky had remained uncharacteristically calm for the majority of the conversation, but Stark's words had pushed him over the edge eventually. Tony wanting to know what happened at HYDRA? Only natural. Tony drinking himself half unconscious? Understandable. But questioning Bucky's love and the amount he cares for Y/N? Damn right unacceptable, and he was not about to turn his affection for the girl into a competition with her father.

 "watch your mouth, Stark. She might not be my flesh and blood but if you think i don't understand what missing her feels like then you're very wrong." Bucky spat. "if you think for even a second that i wouldn't give anything to have her back home and safe in our arms then you not as smart as i thought you were"

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Why did he even  bother trying to prevent messy situations?

"piss off, Bucky" Tony mumbled, feeling some what defeated. "all i needed to know is what happened to my kid while she was with you. I think I'm entitled to that information- don't you?"

Bucky rolled his eyes. "I'm not disagreeing, but i already told you; she was used for experiments. Just drop it and go to bed; Y/N hated us arguing and we both need the rest. We'll talk more when you're a little bit more fucking sober"

Tony stayed awake for hours after everyone went to bed, and headed to the lab to distract himself. After his third cup of black coffee that hour, that he used to drank to sober up more than anything, he felt more awake than ever and continued to try and track his daughter's location.

He was beginning to think it was hopeless, and he knew the rest of the team were too although none of them had ever said it out loud. It had been a week since he had received a video, and as much as it pained him to see her in such horrible pain, at least he knew she was alive.

 He was no closer to tracking her now than  when she first was missing, but he would never give up. In ten years time, if they still hadn't found her, he would still sit up at his computer trying to figure everything out and bring his baby home even if he still had no indication that she was even still alive. One thing that he _knew_ is that he would never, ever give up on his little girl.

 One thing that did settle his mind somewhat, is that Loki probably wouldn't kill her without showing him in detail how he did it. It was clear all he wanted was to break Stark, and he seemed to be doing a pretty decent job at that, so if his daughter was dead Tony was positive he would know about it. It wasn't much comfort though because he still had no idea what that monster was doing to her and if he would ever be able to save her. 

Tony's attention was caught by delicate foot steps behind him. When he turned his head towards the door, he noticed Peter stood there awkwardly; he looked so tired and worn out, his hands shook slightly and his eyes were red and blood shot: he had been crying. Tony's heart ached at the sight. Poor Peter was such a young boy, a similar age to his daughter and had suffered so much loss.

"hey, kid" he gave him a sad smile and beckoned him over. "how come you're awake, Pete? You looked exhausted". Stupid question, really. And utterly hypocritical, but Peter never pointed that out- he just shrugged and sat down beside Tony, who put down his coffee and moved his hand from the computer keys to lay it on the kids shoulder.

 After getting a better look at Peter, he noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the generally exhausted look he wore on his face. "when was the last time you slept properly?" Tony asked.

 "when was the last time _you_ slept properly?" the boy retorted

"god knows" he replied honestly. It was true, lately Tony had trouble keeping track of anything other than the days since Y/N went missing and he truly didn't know how long he'd been awake, but it had to have been a while. All the events and the hours in between that time seemed irrelevant and his mind had difficulty processing things. Now, as well as all the things on Tony's mind, he had Peter to worry about too.

It was obvious the young boy was slowly destroying himself, and he wanted to try and stop him before it went too far. But how could he? His best friend had been missing for three whole weeks; she'd been tortured right before his eyes and the idea of what could be happening behind the camera was enough to keep anyone up at night. Plus, how was he supposed to stop Peter from doing the same things he is? Even Tony knew how hypocritical that would be. 

"I try to sleep" Peter began. "but I either can't or the nightmares wake me up. I just want her home, Mr Stark".

He felt bad for talking about his own problems when Tony was going through the same thing, maybe even worse. He had lost his only daughter, of course he was going to be in pain, but other than May he didn't have anyone to talk to. May called him every night, and he wold spend nights and many afternoons with her. She had a very calming presence and would usually make him feel better for a short while, plus he missed her a lot and didn't want her to be lonely.

"I do too, kid. It's okay to be hurt" Tony told him. "Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is admit you're struggling. I know, i know. That's rich coming from me. I'm telling you to do all the things that i never have, but we both know I'm not exactly a good role model"

Tony really did care for the boy beside him. After all, Peter was one of the few people his daughter would trust after HYDRA. He was so gentle and patient with her, but would never patronize her or make her feel incompetent.

Y/N was basically mute when he had first met her, and would only ever speak to Tony, Bucky, Pepper and sometimes Rhodey. Yet Peter never gave up on her. Sometimes he would ask her if he could sit with her for a while and would just talk to her, tell her stories or sometimes the odd joke. She would very rarely ever reply to him, but she listened to what he had to say with a clear look of interest, even if he was just telling her about something stupid that had happened at school.

Although it took her a while to trust him, she enjoyed his company and was extremely happy that he would spend his time with her. It confused her a lot, why he would want to spend time with her when she never spoke to him, but she was glad he did regardless.

_"hey baby" Tony greeted softly over the phone. After HYDRA, the last thing he wanted was to have to leave her so he had taken months off work. He'd happily admit it was just as much for his own benefit than her's._

_He was so scared that if he took his eyes off her for even a second, then she wouldn't be there when looked again, but she insisted that she would be okay and that his work was important. He had asked Bucky and Steve to make sure she was safe at all times (which they did anyway, but he was fussing) and told her to call Rhodey if anything went wrong. Everything was perfectly under control, but that didn't stop Tony from calling at least once an hour._

_"how is everything?"_

_"everything's fine, dad" she replied, but her voice was cracking and filled with emotion- indicating otherwise._

_"What's up Care Bear?" she cringed a little but smiled still at the nickname._

_"nothing, just thinking about everything. I guess being stuck in my room all day gives me plenty of chance to do that" there was no anger in her voice, just a hint of sadness._

_"I'm sorry baby, i know it's tough but I'll be home in a few days. Maybe we could go out for dinner? If you're up for it that is I'll understand if-"_

_"i'd love to"_

_Tony smiled wider than he ever had before in his life. This was a huge step; she had actually agreed to leave the compound. He didn't want to overwhelm her, but did decide to try and push her a little further. After all, he wanted to help her as much as he possibly could._

_"have you seen much of Peter? You two seem to get along"_

_She rolled her eyes. "I've never even spoken to him"_

_"you don't seem to want to kill him when he talks to you though right?" without even seeing him, she knew he was smirking. She sighed._

_"I want to be his friend. He's really lovely and he's always so patient with me. I'm just worried if I start talking he'll eventually realise how messed up I am and won't want to be friends with me anymore?"_

_A very prominent sadness laced her words and honestly Tony's heart broke into two when he heard them. He wanted to be with his daughter so badly to hold her and try to convince her that she was wrong, that she isn't messed up and that Peter, just like everyone else, loves her as she is._

_"baby" he soothed. "you aren't messed up, you're just hurting and that's normal. And hey, Peter hasn't showed any signs of leaving yet has he?"_

 Y _/N bit her lip. "no" she whispered._

 " _exactly. Listen sweetheart I have to go because I'm heading into a meeting but you can still call me if you need anything yeah? I love you so much"_

 " _I love you too, dad"_

Funnily enough in that same week she actually did managed to conjure up the courage to speak to Peter. He had visited her about an hour after she had finished the call with her dad and they sat in her room while he rambled on about everything that had happened to him that week.

He told her about his friend Ned and their Star Wars marathon that they'd had time to have since he didn't have to work that week, since Stark was away. She smiled when he mentioned the franchise, and of _course_ peter noticed.

_do you like those movies?" he asked. She nodded, still saying nothing but it was sort of communicating. Right? Peter classed it as a win anyway and his smile soon matches her's. "no way! I have the whole collection at home, the comic books too. Do you maybe wanna watch one?"_

_Words couldn't describe how cute he looked when he was excited about something. His smile was beautiful and reached his wonderful brown eyes. In the light, they looked like pools of honey and they seemed filled with kindness and wonder. Y/N smiled back at him, she couldn't help it, and nodded._

_Somehow, his grin grew wider and her heart fluttered every so slightly. She nodded and motioned to her top draw that was filled with books and films. Peter was excited, yet so nervous at the same time and when he stood up to move to her draws he tripped. She didn't mean to, but she giggled when she saw his flustered face once he had picked himself up and she couldn't help but admire how cute he was. As utterly embarrassed as peter was, he couldn't help the sense of achievement he felt over making her laugh._

" _sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. Are you okay?" her voice was so quiet that if it wasn't for his heightened senses he probably wouldn't have heard it, but he did and his heart fluttered even more after hearing her voice. Clearly she was as nervous as he was, which somehow made him feel worse, not better. Regardless, he smiled once again and nodded. "yeah, yeah I'm good"_

 

They spoke more often after that, and very quickly became best friends. Besides her dad and Bucky, he was one of the only people she felt truly understood her, and he proved more than once that she could trust him with anything. More than anything, she enjoyed his company. The very fact that he _wanted_ to spend time with her over whelmed her with happiness.

Bucky was understandably sceptical; he didn't know Peter as well as Tony and honestly he didn't ever rule out the possibility of someone being a threat to her. Eventually though, he decided he did actually quite like the boy after he made her smile.

Peter smiled to himself sadly whilst recalling the memory and noticeably moved himself closer to Tony for comfort. "how's May?" he asked, trying to change the subject for Peter's sake. Fiddling with his hands, Peter shrugged. "she's okay i guess, we haven't really talked about much other than, y'know; the obvious"

Tony nodded in understanding. Lately he also had trouble holding a conversation that didn't revolve around YN, especially when he was talking to someone he really trusted like Rhodey or Pepper. He sighed and lay his hand on the boy's shoulder again and tried to prevent the tears in his eyes from spilling.

 

***

 

Y/N sat slumped against the wall as Loki entered the room, a tray of food in his hands. Raising an eyebrow, she wondered why he decided to bring her it himself today; usually he just gets someone else to do it and there's very little interaction between them coming in and her accepting the food.

"You can probably tell, I've been busy" * _I haven't tortured you in a few days_ * "but today I decided to take a break which means I can give you this myself" That was even stranger. Loki had an entire day off and would rather spend it bringing her meals than punching her in the gut and slicing her face open? She wondered what the hell was going on. Surely it had to be a trick? But if it wasn't she certainly did not want to jinx his good mood.

"Thank you" she said timidly. She stood up and gratefully accepted the tray, then placed it on the little table in her room. "Oh, is there um- any meat on this?". As nervous as she was to ask, everyone else who brought her food seemed to accept the fact that she'd rather not eat meat.

"There isn't" he replied. His answer was short but he didn't seem annoyed. "I'm an awful cook, never had to do it in my life. I was a prince back on Asgard so I had everything brought to me. Someone else made your food. You'll be happy to know it's completely vegan"

She smiled, and it seemed almost genuine. Loki wasn't sure why that made him feel happy? He wanted the girl to be miserable. Right? He realised that maybe it wasn't _her_ that he wanted to suffer: it was her father, but he was too far gone to put a stop to it now. "May I ask why you refuse certain food? Aren't you grateful I'm feeding you at all?"

"I am-" she stopped mid sentence awkwardly, unsure as to whether to continue. "But I would still prefer to avoid meat. I mean I didn't like being used for other people's pleasure so I don't see why I should be fine with it happening to anything else- even animals"

Loki honestly couldn't find the words to argue with her, but he did ask about her past once again. He couldn't help the burning curiosity that soon blossomed into more of a weird obsession. Everything about the girl was interesting. It was like she was a walking oxymoron and he couldn't be more fascinated. She was fierce and littered in scars that proved her strength yet she was so gentle and kind, even to him. She figured that if she was going to die on this planet she might as well make him feel bad about it.

"Do you know of HYDRA? The Nazi organisation on earth" she began. Loki had a vague idea of what she was talking about; he seemed to recall Captain Rogers mentioning it at some point. He nodded. "Well they liked to do human experiments. At first their goal was to create unstoppable soldiers with powers but" she played with her food as a distraction but made no attempt to eat it. "I mean they injected me full of god knows what and I guess it worked but after a while they got bored of me as a test subject and you can probably do the maths and figure out the rest"

Loki was dumbfounded, speechless and maybe even confused. Her past dark, he knew that already- the scars on her body and the fear in her eyes told him that. However he had no idea of the severity of her suffering. The whole thing made him almost feel guilty for putting her through that again, yet he couldn't seem to bring himself to apologise. He hoped that what they did to her was different to what he did. Did that make him better? He wasn't convinced.

"What is it that worked?"

She cocked her head. "Hm?"

"Their experiments. What is it they were trying to achieve?"

"Oh" she murmured. "I guess they wanted to create unstoppable soldiers to fight for them. I'm not sure that's what they wanted with me though, maybe they were just seeing it worked" she sighed and played with her hands awkwardly. "I think they were planning on killing me at first and using Bucky for their tests, but they kept me around for Some reason"

She knew the reason all too well, and by the look on Loki's face he did too but neither of them brought it up again.

He  decided to take a different approach. "Who's Bucky?" She looked away and tried to fight the tears building in her eyes. Oh god she missed him so much. Exhaling, she looked back at Loki and tried to keep her voice calm and steady.

"He was uh, my cell mate" _he was so much more than that_. "He looked after me, helped me escape" she was careful about how much information she shared about it. If she revealed how close she and James were then he could use it against her at some point. The truth was though that she missed him terribly.

Nights were so torturous without him to stay awake with her after a nightmare and calm her down and the days were so boring without having him to train with or to watch a movie. She missed his comforting embrace that seemed to soothe her when it felt as if her world was crumbling around her. Tears brimmed in her eyes which she furiously brushed away, but Loki noticed. Clearly, she didn't want explain any further, but he wanted to push as far as he could.

"What about Peter?"

 Physically tensing, she made complete eye contact with him and wore a completely horrified expression. "How do you know about him?" She snapped.

 "You talk in your sleep" he told her plainly. "I am also in possession of an electronic device seemingly belonging to you. He tries to communicate with you through that quite often"

She furrowed her brows. Peter still text her? She supposed that didn't surprise her really. In a way she was glad he was in some way expressing his feelings, even though deep down she knew he was probably a mess. The idea hurt, she wanted to hug him and protect him from all the harm in the world. Of course, she wanted to yell at Loki for having her phone but in all Honesty? She didn't have the energy.

 "Can I see the messages?" She asked, timidly.

 "I'm not giving you your phone" Loki immediately pointed out. She rolled her eyes and sighed. He was utterly infuriating.

 "Can't you tell me what they said then? Please" she begged. He seemed to ponder for a moment, seemingly considering what she was saying. After a few long, agonizing seconds he nodded half heartedly and revealed her phone from his pocket.

 "I'm not reading them" he clarified. "It's odd. I'll project them onto the screen instead"

 Moments later a one sided conversation appeared on the monitor in front of them. Biting her lip, she began to read.

**_"Hey Y/N, you doing ok? You didn't meet me after school, I figured maybe you had already started walking but then your dad called asking if I was with you. Can you call me when you get this? We're all worried"_ **

 She looked down and wiped a tear from her eyes. Poor poor Peter, she couldn't even begin to imagine how worried he was. Another message from a few hours later appeared.

**_"Please call me. We're so worried about you. If you're upset about something then we can just go for a walk? Or maybe get ice cream. Can you just let me know you're Ok?"_ **

 

Another, now from the next day. **_"I'm so sorry I couldn't get out of class sooner. Maybe if I could this wouldn't have happened. Your dad thinks it might be HYDRA, I hope to god he's wrong"_**

 An ache soared through her heart. He blames himself? Oh god no. Peter, her precious Peter who wouldn't hurt a fly, feeling guilty over something that most certainly wasn't his fault? Her breath seemed to hitch when she read HYDRA, and she hoped that it wasn't obvious. Loki noticed though: he always did.

**_"We've just gotten a picture through...god Y/N I'm so sorry this happened. We're trying to get you back but we have no idea where you are. I love you, Yeah? You'll be okay. Just trust me"_ **

 

**_"It's been a week now I think. I don't know what to do. You were always the one who gave me the best advice. I miss you so much. I know you won't see these, but it sorta makes me feel better being able to tell you what's going on. I promise I'm never going to give up on finding you. I swear to you I'll have you back in my arms in no time. Please trust me. I love you"_ **

 

**_"oh god, your face...I'm so sorry this happened. I want to fix it so badly but i don't know how. I promise we're trying. Me and your dad stay up almost every night trying to track you. I promise we will never stop trying"_ **

 

**_"i can't take this anymore. God, if i had the chance to tell you how much i love you then i would, I'm sorry i didn't tell you enough before now. You're my world"_ **

 She wanted to read on but the unstoppable flood of tears escaping from her eyes made it impossible to physically see the messages. Loki stood awkwardly as she sobbed.

Broken, wretched sobs left her mouth as she covered her mouth and held her chest as if trying to protect her heart and lessen the noise of her crying. He considered apologising, but what good would it do? He couldn't send her back to earth, and his apologies would mean very little to the crying girl in front of him. So, he existed the room without uttering a single syllable, and locked the door behind him.


	6. chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki sends another video to the avengers, who are beginning to struggle with the loss the youngest Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi...wow I've nearly been gone for a month. I promise you'll not have to wait that long for the next chapter. please forgive me...I have GCSEs and literally no time for myself lmaooo kill me 
> 
> oh and also! this is part of a series now! i've decided that if i'm going to deciate chpaters to side plots and back stories and what not then i'll upload them as seperate fics just to keep everything neat and tidy. that also means that if you aren't inerested in those types of chpaters then you can avoid them and i'll only upload the main plot here :) 
> 
>  
> 
> anyway enjoy the chapter!

When Y/N woke up a few days later, the room was in utter darkness and her movement was restricted. Soon enough she realised that once again, she was tied to a chair by tight, chafing ropes around her wrists, ankles and around her stomach and tape over her mouth. Of course, one video wouldn't have been good enough to send to Tony, how thoughtless and naive  of her to think that maybe his fun was over and he would leave her alone. If it weren't for her advanced healing, the wounds he inflicted last time would barely have healed and the thought sickened her. She soon realised that even with her abilities, her face would likely be scarred.  It had been days since she had eaten or had anything to drink and she had never felt more tired.

 

All of a sudden the lights came on, blinding her tired eyes. Wincing, she allowed herself to adjust to the change in lighting but her eyes were still watery and sore. "morning dear, sleep well?" Loki's sickly sweet voice met her ears. That damn voice was something that would haunt her forever. Soundlessly, she glared at the man before her, resulting in him shaking his head and tutting patronizingly. "Not speaking today? That's alright, I'm not here to converse today anyway"

 

To some extent she was thankful there was something stopping her from speaking because it stopped her from making a sarcastic remark that would make the situation so much worse. More times than she wanted to admit, her mouth would get her into trouble and she honestly couldn't be bothered with anymore confrontation than necessary; she was exhausted. Loki sauntered over to her calmly, and bent down slightly when he reached where she was sitting to be more eye level with her.

 

"i was doing some thinking, and the videos are a little bit boring aren't they? I mean, I'm sure they're _killing_ your father, but where's the fun in that if i can't see it? So we're trying something a little different today"

 

Anxiously, she wondered what he could have been talking about, but then it dawned on her: when she had first met him he had mentioned the live streams that he could use to get in touch with her dad. She felt like she was going to vomit. _Thinking_ about her family's reaction to her suffering was torturous enough, but actually seeing their faces? Knowing for sure just how broken her family were would surely kill her.

 

"Don't look at me like that, sweetheart" Loki cooed. His voice alone made her cringe. "wouldn't it be nice to see your friends again? I might even let you talk to them if you're good". She mentally refused the temptation to tell him to fuck off, because as much as she hated the idea of whatever he classed as 'being good', she did actually want to speak with her family again.  Carefully, she watched as Loki fiddled about with electronics and monitors and other shit that she was too tried to figure out for herself.

 

To herself, she wondered how everyone was doing; she hoped they were alright. Deep down, she know her hope was false but it was nice to think that they weren't all probably driving themselves mad. She figured she could only wait and find out whenever Loki had figured out how to set up the damn call. Eventually, the monitor turned on and a faint beeping could be heard from the speakers. Less than a few seconds later, someone had answered the call.

 

The screen lit up and displayed her friends and family gathered in the compound looking helplessly into the camera. Tony and Peter stood closely together, her dad's arm around the younger boy's shoulders. They both looked like they hadn't slept in days, and Peter's eyes were glazed with tears. He looked a little bit skinnier than he did when she had last seen him. Pepper stood beside the pair, holding Tony's hand. Rhodey stood with Natasha and Clint. Bucky stood a metre or so in front of them, Steve glued to his side with his arm around him.  He looked exhausted, and his eyes were red and puffy. It was rare she saw Bucky cry, so her heart broke when she saw how broken he looked.  She was glad that Bucky had someone to look after him. It made her feel a little bit better to now that Steve loved him as much as she did and wouldn't let him destroy himself. Sam stood somewhat close to the pair. She knew that even if James and Sam bickered like school children, he wouldn't ever want Bucky to be in pain which was a reassurance also.

 

It wasn't until Bucky's sorrowful expression turned angry, and Peter's sad expression turned sadder that she remembered they could see her too. For this reason, she was particularly thankful for her advanced healing, which mean that the injuries on her cheeks had somewhat healed and the bruises around the rest of her face were fading.

She had expected her dad to look angry, and to some extent he did, but he mainly looked broken. It seemed for once in his life, things were out of his control and he had no idea what to do or how to fix it. No amount of anger or hatred in the world could solve this, because as far as he was concerned, Loki was invincible; at least while he had his daughter right in his mischievous hands.

 

Bucky moved swiftly towards the screen with vengeance in his eyes and purpose behind his stride. Fists clenched, he glared at Loki through the monitors and growled. His voice was low, steady and probably terrifying to anyone but her. She was never scared of Bucky; she was never given a reason to be. He had only ever been loving and gentle towards her and even as the Winter Soldier he would never dream of harming her. Now though, he looked how any man who had just had his world taken from his bare hands would look like: pissed off. " _This_ is Loki?" he asked Steve behind him. Steve nodded. "funny, i expected you to look less like a fucking rat" he yelled. Loki feigned offence by dramatically placing his hand over his chest and raising his eyebrows.

 

"I'm going to kill you" Bucky said calmly. It was the calmest he'd sounded yet, which was definitely scarier. He said it like it was a promise, and it was. Bucky didn't yet know _how_ he would get his hands on Loki, but he would. That was a  promise he had made to both Loki and himself. "when we find you, I'm going to take great pleasure in making you feel every ounce of pain you've put her through and then twice over. You'll regret ever even laying eyes on her" he spat. Somewhere within Bucky's fit of rage Steve had wondered back over to him and grabbed his arm gently. Not to stop his words, not to prevent him from threatening Loki more, just to ease his pain and to offer him comfort; to show him that he wasn't alone.

 

Rolling his eyes, Loki scoffed at his threats. "your friend is very impolite Y/N" he said as he moved behind her and wrapped his hand his around neck. "is this one Bucky?". Obviously, she couldn't speak anyway, but he was expecting her to nod her head. She stayed absolutely still and closed her eyes. Quickly, he used his other hand to remove the tape from over her mouth. "i asked you a question Y/N" he taunted. Eventually she gave in and nodded. "ah, I thought so." he replied  "The little one must be Peter right? aww look at him, all teary eyed for you. Isn't that cute?"

 

Peter looked pale, even skinny. It was obvious that he wasn't eating nearly enough, which was a concern because of his increase metabolism. His sad, sunken eyes were red and glossy like he had just finished crying, and his lip trembled as he looked at the screen before him. There's nothing she wouldn't do to be able to hold him right now, help him out and show him that everything was going to be okay. She wanted to wipe away the boy's tears and kiss him until he could breathe again, but she knew she couldn't.

 

"and Stark- god you look awful" Loki commented. "how does it feel? Being _this_ out of control. I could do whatever I want right now and there's nothing you could do about it"

 

"please-" Tony whimpered, sounding desperate and broken. He _was_ desperate and broken. He cared very little how for pathetic he sounded, he would do anything to bring her home. Swallowing his pride was nothing compared to the pain of watching her suffer.

 

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Are you begging me, Stark?" he teased playfully. "I like it, do it again"

 

Tony bit his lip and took a step forward. "please" he repeated. _"please_ leave her alone. I'll do anything. Literally anything. Name something and it's yours'. He paused, choking back tears. he tried so desperately hard to keep his voice level but was aware he was failing miserably. "Just _please_ leave her alone"

 

Loki chuckled. "do you honestly think I'm that materialistic? Trust me, there's nothing you can give me to stop this". He moved away from Y/N and strolled towards the camera. "you see Stark, the only reason I'm doing this is to hurt you. I want to break you down until you are nothing but the shell of the man you once were. I want to see how long it takes to truly destroy you. And if that means destroying your daughter's pretty face for the foreseeable future, then that is exactly what i intend to do"

 

He laughed again at the horrified expressions each of the avengers wore. The only time he had ever seen Agent Romanoff look so distressed was when she was acting, but that wasn't the case this time. Barton looked horrified and lost, pacing the floor awkwardly and wringing his hands together like they were a suitable distraction even though they certainly weren't. Sam seemed lost in concentration, like he was coming up with plans to help her. Bucky still stood by Steve, and Y/N noticed that their pinkie fingers were hooked together. In another situation the sight would make her smile. Peter never removed his eyes from the screen no matter how hard it was to continue staring at how hurt his best friend was.

 

Like them, she was much thinner than the last time he saw her, and the injuries to her face had definitely scarred. "it's been three and a half days since she's had anything to eat or drink" Loki told them. "I'll give her something, she's a fighter- but not invincible" he chuckled and turned o face her. "do you want something to drink?" he asked her, dangling a bottle of water in her face. Eyes wide, she nodded, feeling pathetic yet not caring more. She was desperate. Loki grinned; "I can't hear you"

 

She sighed and looked up at him, face turning a shade of crimson. "please" she said, voice raspy from days without use and a lack of a water.

 

"what's in it for me?" he teased.

 

Looking at him pleadingly, she shook her head. "depends what you want" she replied.

 

He chuckled and moved closer to him. "oh darling, there's plenty I want, but let's keep it simple" he wandered behind the chair and pulled out a knife. Closing her eyes, she prepared for the inevitable but after a few seconds, she wondered if it was even coming. The feeling of the knife slicing into her skin was still burned into her memory, and it certainly wasn't something she wanted to relive. Yet she would do anything for a drink, so did not protest.

 

However, the blade never touched her skin and instead cut through the restraints binding her hands together. She released a sigh of relief, and she heard a few others do the same from the speakers. "I'm tired of hurting you" he admitted. "it gets boring a while, so why don't we try something a little different"

 

She raised an eyebrow in confusion as he hovered a knife towards her, seemingly offering it? Now she was even more confused. "i wouldn't recommend trying to use this against me, it won't end well for you. Now, if you want water so badly you'll have to prove how much you want it"

 

Cautiously, she took the blade from his hand and held it in her own. "slice your palm" he instructed.

 

She glared daggers at him, "excuse me?"

 

He opened the bottle and began to drink it himself.

 

"wait!" she yelled, hurting her throat. "fine, just please leave me some" she begged

 

"look at the monitor while you do it, love. Let them see"

 

She paused, unsure but then face the screen and even moved closer to it. Her hands trembled and she hovered the knife over the palm of her other hand. Compared to everything else she had been through, this was nothing. So why was it so difficult? She would heal quickly anyway, and the pain wouldn't even be that bad after a while. Why the hell couldn't she do it. Maybe it was the smug look on Loki's face, or the terrified look on her dad's. Or perhaps the furious look on Bucky's face as his breathing very obviously increased. She was worried she would send him into one of his panic attacks that he would never admit to having but they both _knew._ If so then she wouldn't be there to help him.

 

Her eyes caught Peter's and she sent him a sad, but hopefully reassuring half smile. He looked even more terrified than she felt, but wouldn't peel his eyes away from the screen. Tony wrapped his arm around the younger boy's shoulder's again and brought him closer to his side, trying to get him to turn his head. He wrapped his other arm around Pepper's waist and did the same with her. Part of it was to comfort them and another part of it to comfort himself. He needed them close right now. Pepper was crying, and doing a bad job of hiding it. She had helped raise Y/N from a fairly young age, and liked to think she had a very mother-daughter like bond with the girl.

 

After a few moments of hesitation, she dug the knife into her hand and winced at the pain, but made no noise other than a slight groan. Peter whimpered when he saw the blood trickle down her shaking fingers. "oh god" Tony said quietly. "baby-". He wiped a few tears from his face before he started sobbing; Y/N didn't need to see that.

 

"impressive" Loki commented. "I didn't expect you to actually go through with it"

 

"fucking bastard" Tony spat. Pepper cupped his cheek and made him face her, then gently wiped away his tears with her thumb. He pulled her into a hug when he saw her own tear stained, red eyes. Looking back at the screen, he noticed that Loki still hadn't given her the drink.

 

"other side now" he instructed.

 

Tony saw red, heart aching for his poor, poor baby girl. Every minute of this made him want to vomit. "that wasn't a part of the deal" he yelled.

 

Loki cocked his brow and grinned. "what deal?"

 

"son of a bitch" Stark muttered.

 

Y/N looked at him sadly but nodded. "it's okay" she spoke up. "don't worry dad, I'm fine" she lied, but it would be pretty convincing if Tony didn't know her better.

 

"oh care-bear" he whispered, and very nearly looked away from the screen when she used her already wounded, blood clad hand to cut open the other. She whimpered more this time around. As blood ran down her hands, she dropped the knife on the floor and assessed the injuries. The blade was sharp, so the slices were clean but still deep and nasty. They'd heal nicely in a day or so, but damn were they sore now.

 

Loki threw the bottle at her, and despite the stinging sensation it caused her, she caught it and then began to greedily gulp down the contents of it. The cold, refreshing liquid felt like heaven as it hit the back of her throat. Not eve stopping for breath, she swallowed down the water until it was empty, and whined when it was.

 

"don't worry sweetheart, you'll get some more soon enough" Loki assured. Should she be thankful for just basic human kindness? Probably not, but given her current circumstances she would take anything she could get. If she felt brave enough she would even ask if she could take a shower, but that could wait for now; she didn't want to push her luck,

 

 "Now, say goodbye to your friends" he said as he switched the camera off.


	7. autho's note! sorry...

okay so it's just occurred to me that since I deleted the civil war chapter and made it a separate fic it's just gonna say that there's still six chapters and no one's gonna know that I've actually update the story. so, part 6 is now conveniently chapter 6 rather than being chapter 7 like it would have been if I hadn't have moved the Civil war chapter. I'll delete this note by the time actual chapter 7 is uploaded (aaand a miracle has happened and it's already nearly finished! no more waiting like 2 weeks or more for an update!) I think these chapters are going to be a little bit shorter than usual but i'll update much more frequently :)) hope that works for everyone . once again thank you so much for reading and all the comments are so appreciated. 

go to chapter 6 for the latest update


	8. chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky isn't coping well, but luckily he has Steve to take care of him :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me? uploading more than once every 20 days? is this a new trend? I hope so :) 
> 
> here's some fluff to make up for the angst in the last chapter. This chapter is a little shorter than usual but I've managed to upload it a lot quicker so I hope that's okay. 
> 
> thank you so much for all the positive reactions to this story so far x

Steve may not be a genius, but he knows his best friend enough by now to see when he's struggling. They all were, of course. Every single person in the compound had a connection with the youngest Stark and they all missed her terribly. Bucky though? He loved her like she was his own child. There were two people in the world he trusted and would do anything for, and she was one of them.   

"Buck" Steve softly said, moving his way towards him. Over an hour ago, Bucky had claimed to be off to 'train', but Steve knew it was more likely he was just taking his emotions out on a punching bag. Fine, of course, but this was the _only_ way he had  been dealing with everything. He knew it wasn't healthy, but he didn't care. All he cared about was getting Y/N back, and sitting around feeling sorry for himself wouldn't make that happen.  

"Bucky" Steve repeated, louder this time but still as gentle. Still, Bucky continued to throw aggressive, powerful punches at the bag in front of him and ignored the other man's presence. It wasn't until Steve had actually touched him, a warm, comforting hand on the top of his arm, that he bothered to stop. Once his violent movements came to a halt, Steve noticed that he was shaking and that his knuckles were bleeding. It seemed that he hadn't even bothered wrapping his hand before he began to 'train'.  

"shh, come here, Buck" he soothed, pulling the shivering soldier into his embrace. At first he protested, but after a few seconds he allowed himself to feel comfort in Steve's arms. "you with me, Buddy?" he asked. Bucky's breathing was clearly increasing, and he hoped that it was just from exercise. When he didn't reply, however, Cap realised that his assumption was probably wrong.  

"you're safe, Bucky" he assured him, pulling away from the hug ever so slightly to give him room to breathe. The metal armed man had tears in his tired eyes and avoided actually looking at Steve because of this. When Rogers gently grabbed his hand, he realised that maybe he should have actually wrapped his knuckles, as they were now sore and bloody as a result of his aggressive training  session. He tried to retract his hand so that Steve wouldn't see the state of it, but the concerned look on the other man's face suggested that he had already seen everything he needed to.  

"let's get you cleaned up, okay? Then maybe some food and a rest? No offence buddy but you look like you could use both right now" Steve suggested. Bucky knew that his friend was only trying to help, and he appreciated that- really he did, but another part of him just wanted to be left alone. He didn't want to feel guilty about the way he was dealing with this, even if it was a tad on the unhealthy side.  

He never was good with handling emotions, bottling things up until he couldn't take it anymore was usually his go to method, and that's exactly what he was doing here. So while he was angry, god he was so fucking angry, he was also _sad_ over losing Y/N. The time she had been gone felt like forever; every day without her seemed to drag. "I'm okay, Stevie" he lied, sitting down before he passed out, pleading mentally that Steve would just _take the god damn hint_ and leave him to his own devices. "you don't have to worry about me". Now Steve was either oblivious to Bucky's request, or chose to ignore it. Knowing Steve it could very well be either.  

"You seem to forget how well I know you, Bucky" Rogers counteracted, taking a seat on the floor beside him. "seriously, talk to me. How are you really feeling?"  

Bucky paused for a moment, as if he was pondering Steve's question carefully. How _was_ he feeling? Downright miserable was the first thing that popped into his head. Then he thought about how angry he was. At Loki, for hurting the most important thing in the world to him, then at himself for allowing it to happen. He was angry at the rest of the world and how cruelly she had been treated in life. Anyone who knew her properly knew how wonderful she was; she was the face of pure innocence yet had been through enough to make even the strongest of people crumble.  

In the end he settled on the simple fact that he was worried. "i miss her, Steve. I just need her back here, safe with us." he told him. His voice was barley more than a whisper but Steve heard it perfectly. "the stuff she's bee through is more than anyone should have to in their whole lives. She's so young. everything had HYDRA would be enough to break most people, let alone going through it all again with some deranged lunatic" he sighed. Tears that had been just waiting to fall for weeks now were strolling freely down his cheeks as he spoke.  

"I just think of all the things he could be doing to her, y'know. Every time we get a video through she's got more cuts and bruises than before. She heals quickly too so he must be doing it a lot and-" Bucky stopped himself from speaking and released a long, shaky breath. "I just don't want a repeat of HYDRA" he finally said.  

Steve looked at him with concerned and understanding. He hated seeing his best friend struggle like this, but he knew there wasn't anything he could do to take his pain away. So, all he could do was encourage him to deal with his thoughts and feelings appropriately and be there to pick up the pieces when he finally does. "do you maybe wanna talk about HYDRA?" Steve asked softly. He knew it was a sensitive subject, so wanted to tread carefully when bringing it up.  

"we've already talked about HYDRA" Bucky pointed out.  

Steve nodded, gently taking his friend's bloody hand in his own. "yeah we have, but not enough. Sure you caught me up but that was for _my_ benefit not yours'. How about you tell me less about what happened and more about how you _feel_ because of it". The other man lowered his head and sighed, not reacting when Steve gave his hand a comforting squeeze, but appreciating it none the less.  

"it was awful, punk. If it wasn't for how many people I'd hurt, i wouldn't give a rat's ass what they did to me. But her? She didn't deserve any of that"  

"neither did you, Bucky. You seem to forget that sometimes"  

Bucky sent his friend a sad smile, and nodded slightly in faint agreement. "maybe, but still. You know there at least was a reason behind what they did to me, and i guess there was with her at first too. But after a while? They were just having their fun". His tone turned very quickly from sorrowful to angry as he spoke properly about HYDRA for the first time in forever. Using his metal arm, because his other hand was still wrapped firmly in Steve's, he scrubbed furiously at his face to wipe away any more tears that wanted to make an unwanted appearance.  

"i wanted to protect her so badly, but I couldn't. All i could do was listen, sometimes watch while they- while they _tortured_ her. I could never figure out _why._ Maybe they knew i cared about her? Found a way to hurt me in a way they couldn't ever before. I mean it worked- god did it fucking work. I've never felt more helpless in my whole goddamn life than when i heard her screams but couldn't stop them". He sighed sadly and looked away, tears glazing his eyes once again. "I couldn't stop them, Stevie" 

Steve released the other soldier's hand and instead wrapped his arms around him, pulling him closer to his chest. Bucky hummed contently at his touch and allowed Steve to hold him tightly against his chest whilst he _finally_ let the tears fall down his face. "it's alright, you're okay" he soothed, running his hand through Bucky's hair. "I've got you"  

"I'm so scared" Bucky admitted. "what if we don't get her back?" he choked. By this point he was sobbing, so many pent up emotions spilled out of him freely and he couldn't be more thankful for Steve helping him through it. Steve shook his head gently "we will Buck" he told him. "i promise you we'll get her back"  

Whilst Bucky was still unconvinced, he had no energy to argue with him. In fact, he had no energy to do anything but _cry_ right now. Which was okay, as Steve kept assuring him. There was only so long he could keep everything together for, this was bound to happen eventually. At least it was in the presence of his longest friend which sheltered the embarrassment by quite a bit. Soon, Bucky's breathing began to even out and the tears stopped flowing as profusely.  

"come on, let's get your hand cleaned up" Steve said quietly, nudging the sleepy soldier in his arms. Bucky released a small whine in protest. He was _exhausted,_ and this was the calmest he'd felt in weeks. He wasn't keen on the idea of moving just yet. "i promise, once you're cleaned up you can rest. You seem to need it".  

Bucky hummed in agreement and didn't object against moving this time, so Steve saw that as a sign that he was allowed to shift him. Gently, as if he were made of delicate china, he lifted Bucky to his feet and help onto him as they moved across the gym. Figuring Bucky's room would be the best place to do this, so that he could sleep a soon as he was done, they stumbled carefully along the corridors. Bucky wasn't completely incapable of walking, but he struggled. Days of not eating or sleeping had finally began to take its toll on him; he felt weak, like he was going to vomit or pass out any moment.  

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the tired man's room and Steve helped him sit on the edge of his bed. "do you have a first aid kit in here?" he asked. Bucky shook his head. "that's alright, I'll go grab one. I'll be back in a second, alright? Don't fall asleep just yet"  

A few minutes later Steve returned with the first aid kit, a glass of water, some pills and a sandwich in case Bucky felt up to eating. Speaking of Bucky, he seemed to be nodding off on the edge of his bed, eyes closed and a hazed look on his face. Steve moved over to him quietly, and combed his hand through his long, currently greasy, hair, waking him up slightly. Bucky groaned quietly in confusion, but relaxed when Steve whispered "it's just me, don't worry" 

After placing the kit onto the bed next to the sleepy man, he gently grabbed Bucky's injured hand and began cleaning up the wounds. he winced visibly at the contact and Steve muttered a "sorry" before putting down the damp cloth. Then, he proceeded to take a bandage from the kit and gently wrap up Bucky's sore knuckles. Then, he passed the soldier some painkillers, followed by the glass of water with the instruction "take these". Too sleepy to question it, Bucky obeyed Steve's orders and swallowed the pills, before finishing off the drink.

"you hungry?" Steve asked. Bucky shook his head. _One step at a time_ Steve thought to himself. _Get him to eat in the morning._ "alright buddy, get some rest" he said before uncovering the blankets for him. "m'not a baby, Steve" he murmured, but he didn't seem the least bit irritated. In fact, he welcomed Steve's company and his fussing, even if he would never admit to it. That was okay though, Steve knew.

"Night Bucky" he said softly, running his hand through his hair before standing up to leave.

"Night Stevie"

 

 


	9. chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and May have a catch up. She's worried about her nephew, he's worried about his superhero friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as per kudos and comments are so appreciated. thanks so much for reading :)

Peter sat across from May at a café just down the rode from their apartment. He felt guilty; he hadn't been spending nearly enough time with his aunt these last few weeks and no matter how much she reassured him that it was alright and that she understood, he felt awful over it.

 

The toll that these last few weeks had taken on Peter were obvious, especially after May hadn't seen him in a few days. He was so much skinnier than before, paler too and his eyes were constantly red around the rims.  As well as that, he looked exhausted. It was clear that her nephew wasn't taking enough care of himself, and while she knew that Tony would be doing his best, she wasn't sure everything was going as smoothly as Peter kept telling her over the phone.

 

"Pete" May said softly, reaching across the table to hold his hand. "Baby you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" Peter nodded. "Of course, May"

 

"I'm worried about you" she admitted whilst she graced her thumb along the back of his hand lovingly. After a few seconds, he laced their fingers together and squeezed her hand tightly, trying to reassure her that he was fine.

 

"Don't look at me like that, Pete. I know you're struggling, anyone in your shoes would be" May said calmly. She truly did hate seeing her baby so hurt and heartbroken, especially when there's nothing she could do to fix it. It's not like taking him out for hot chocolate would bring back his best friend, but never the less she would do all she could to raise his spirits.

 

"I'm so worried about her, May" Peter admitted sorrowfully. The melancholy boy before her had never looked so _sad._ Not when he heard the news about his parents and not even when Ben died. Now, don't get him wrong; he was absolutely devastated by his uncle's passing but had stayed strong and cheerful for his aunt. God, that boy was always so cheerful, so to see his tired face and glossy eyes made May want to cry.

 

"I know, baby. I know" she acknowledged softly, squeezing his hand again. "Has there been any news?"

 

Swallowing nervously, Peter's mind wandered back live stream. He bit his lip so he could concentrate better on holding back tears, and nodded. "Sort of" he said, voice breaking. "He kinda- uh video called, I guess, about two days ago"

 

May had never heard him sound so angry yet so _depressed_ until just then. She realised soon that her own heart hurt, and not just for Peter. May had become so used to Stark's daughter spending so much time at their flat, despite having so many luxuries at her own home. That's why she liked the girl. Yes, she was rich but was always so humble about it and still truly appreciated everything that was given to her. No one had ever seemed to grateful for a meal in their tiny apartment than the girl who had everything. It felt strange to have her gone for so long.

 

"and what happened?" she pressed lightly.

 

Peter paused for a second before explaining what he had saw, what Loki made her do. He told May how horrible it was to see her in such a state and how much he _hated_ Loki.  That was new. Young Parker had always been so pure and mellow, the word hatred wasn't usually in his vocabulary. Yet now, he was full of rage and so much hurt, it broke her heart. She imagined the other avenger's weren't doing much better and wished there was something _, anything_ she could do to help. 

 

"she doesn't deserve any of it, May. I don't know what to do" Peter told her. "I can't stand to see her in so much pain, it's so unfair; she doesn't deserve any of it"

 

May looked at her nephew sadly and rubbed her thumb along the back of his hand. It was small, but massive comfort to the boy. "you know, sweetheart, I could say the same about you." Confused, Peter cocked his head and knitted his brows together, May smiled sweetly. "This isn't fair on you too you know, you don't deserve it either, Pete"

 

"I'm not being tortured on an alien planet" he retorted. Nodding in agreement, she didn't argue. It's not like she _could_ disagree with him; what Peter was saying was an undeniable fact. On the other hand, she wasn't going to allow him to dismiss his own pain because he believes others have it worse off.

 

"I know baby, but that doesn't mean you aren't allowed to be hurting" she reminded him. "you know that Y/N wouldn't want you to think like that. She'd be as worried as I am"

 

Rolling his eyes, Peter scoffed. Usually he was the perfect teenager; he was never rude towards her, did his homework without being asked and would help her in anyway he could. Hell, her nephew was a literal superhero, so she could excuse a little bit of attitude when he was really hurting.

 

"Don't talk about her like she's dead" he snapped. A guilty look appeared on his face immediately after he'd said it. "sorry, May. It's just, I'm so worried about. It's awful for everyone but at least I'm not alone" he told her sadly. "she has no one, we don't even know where she is. It's just too much"

 

May looked at Peter lovingly and nodded in understanding. She would never judge him or punish him for finally speaking up about how he feels. "I know it's tough sweetheart" she said. "if there's anything I can do let me know"

 

Peter paused for a second. It wasn't so much that he was thinking of _how_ his Aunt could help; it was more like he already had an idea and was pondering whether or not to actually suggest it. After a moment or two of looking totally conflicted, he finally settled. "Do you think you could maybe come to the tower? Only for like dinner or, or something like that" he suggested. "I miss you, I hate not having you around but I don't wanna leave the tower for too long incase there's any news"

 

May thought about her nephew's words for a few seconds and then nodded. "I'm sure we can figure something like that out baby, but you don't have to stay cooped up in the tower all the time. I'm sure Tony will notify you if he has any updates"

 

Peter nodded and sipped at his hot chocolate. It was full of whipped cream and marshmallows and sprinkles, just the way he liked it. _If Y/N were here she would have ordered a simple black coffee with no suga_ r Peter found himself thinking. She always was a simple person, never wanting anything extravagant, despite who her father was. It was admirable, really, how she could, if she wanted to,  have such an expensive lifestyle, yet chooses the quiet life and would rather use her money on something productive rather than on person gain. _The world needs people like her_ Peter thought.

 

"i know that, but it's- I don't know. I always worry that she'll come home and I won't be there for her. I know, it's dumb because there's no way she could just rock back up but- I don't know" Peter told his aunt sadly. It's true, he did have blind hope that one day he would wake up and she would be home, with them, finally safe. While he knew how nearly impossible that was, it was nice to think about.

 

"she just doesn't deserve any of this, y'know. She's the kindest person I've ever met even after everything that she's been through and I know that she still will be if we get her home, because that's just the kind of person she is" Peter proclaimed. May nodded in agreement, listening to her nephew intently as he spoke about the girl he clearly cared so much about. "and you know- she was so, so _shy_ after HYDRA, I'm so worried about her, May"

 

"but she made it through" she countered. "she's a strong girl; she can make it through this as well"

 

Peter didn't look convinced. "she spent months hating herself because of the scars, I'm not sure she still doesn't. May they're- they're on her face now too" he told her sorrowfully. "I know for a fact that they won't make her any less beautiful but what if she doesn't see it that way?". He blushed when he realised he had just called his best friend _beautiful._ Not pretty, not even just good looking, he used such a strong and meaningful word and of course he still meant it, but the fond look on May's face still made his ears turn red.

 

"sounds like you're in love, Pete" she commented, sipping her coffee, that fond, _i-knew-it-from-the-beginning-but-now-you've-finally-admitted-it_ look on her face never leaving. Peter only blushed harder and started to drink his hot chocolate in hope that the mug would hide his face. He was trying desperately to think of a way to argue against her, but deep down he knew that his Aunt was merely stating facts. It's like, science. You can't argue with science.

 

Eventually though, he settled on "I guess maybe I am, but what difference does it make if I'll never see her again"

 

May's expression softened, and the smug look on her face turned melancholy. She knew how it felt to lose someone you were in love with and wouldn't wish it on her worst enemy, let alone her pure, sweet nephew. "Don't say that baby, there's always hope." Peter bit his lip and looked at his aunt sorrowfully. How could she say that and sound so sure? There was no guarantee that he would ever see the youngest Stark again, and if anything it was unlikely. While he would never, _ever_ stop trying to save her, he needed to accept at some point or another how impossible that was.

 

"it's just so hard seeing her in so much pain and being able to do nothing about it" Peter exclaimed, putting his head in his hands. "it's been weeks since she went missing, May. At first everyone was so sure we'd find her but now...they're not coping well either. It's hard, you know, seeing them like this." May nodded and encouraged him to carry on talking, so he did. "Mr Stark hasn't slept in days. He tells me he has but I sometimes hear Miss Potts talking to him about it.  And have you ever heard the winter soldier cry? I don't just mean let a few tears out, I mean _sob_ until he can't breathe while he thinks we're sleeping. It hurts to listen to"

 

May smiled at him sadly, but reassuringly. "you all need to be there for each other" she told him. "it's important that the others know that they aren't alone, but when things get too much? You know I'm here for you sweetheart. Whenever you need me, okay?"

 

Peter wiped away some tears with the sleeve of his sweater and nodded. "thanks, May. I love you" he said.

 

"I love you too, baby"


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> she's slowly giving up, but a certain God seems to give her hope again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi...it has been SO long and I apologize for that. my only excuse is that my mental health has been pretty shitty lately and I haven't had the time or the energy to do the things I usually enjoy. however, I'm starting college next week so hopefully, that will give me more of a routine that I can follow.

When Thor arrived on the planet Sakaar, he knew immediately that he would hate it and unsurprisingly, he was correct. There was just something about the place that didn't sit right with him from the minute he arrived. Whether it be the contest of champions, or the fact that he was brought against his will, or something else he wasn't sure, but he was determined to leave as soon as possible.

 

Upon finding out that Loki was also aboard this chaotic planet, Thor realized that he probably _wasn't_ being paranoid, and there was, in fact, something off about where he had found himself. Yet most things seemed normal, his brother especially. He was his old sarcastic, irritating self but appeared to cause much less trouble. Thor began to wonder if there was something here that had tamed his mischievous brother but found it more likely that Loki hadn't actually changed at all and was just biding his time. That sounded much more realistic.

 

Then finding out that his old friend Banner was here too, but had been kept as a warrior in his hulk form had broken his heart. As hard as he tried to bring Banner out of him again, he knew deep down that it was only Natasha that had truly succeeded. Eventually, however, the hulk seemed to tame and was willing to work with him to leave Sakaar. Valkyrie was another story, she was as stubborn as she was when he had first met her and she refused to admit that she was unhappy here. Still, Thor was determined to get the truth out of her eventually and convince her to help them leave.

 

About a week after he had arrived his suspicions about the planet had been confirmed. Loki had been acting out of the ordinary to start with, which from his own experience Thor knew was never a good thing. So, he had decided to follow his mischievous brother around all day without his knowledge. He knew that if he acted like a lost puppy then whatever Loki was planning wouldn't be revealed. Maybe he was thinking about taking over this place? He _had_ suggested it a few days ago, so it was entirely possible that Loki was just planning to go ahead with it without him. Either way, he was up to no good and Thor just _knew_ it.

 

He thought he was prepared to deal with anything that Loki had done, that nothing his brother could do would surprise him anymore, but he was wrong. So, _so_ wrong. While he knew his brother was always going to be a trickster, that's just simply who he was, Thor didn't believe he would ever go this far. Part of him prayed that his ears were deceiving him, that he _wasn't_ hearing a young maiden whimpering in the presence of Loki. Perhaps there was some sort of misunderstanding going on; Thor prayed that was the case. Though he was comfortable thinking his ears were wrong, he knew his eyes were not.

 

He had broken down the door to the room that Loki had just entered and the sight before him made Thor want to vomit. He couldn't yet see the girl's face as she was facing away from the door, but he could easily see that she was tied to a chair, in her underwear, Loki looming over her like a statue. The girl seemed to be delirious, rambling nonsense and begging him not to touch her. Thor could no longer deny what he was seeing, not could he blame it on poor eyesight or dodgy hearing. The truth was right in front of him, and like hell would he let this poor girl suffer at the hands of his own brother any longer than necessary.

 

"Loki!" Thor boomed, startling both his brother and the girl strapped to the chair. "I'll give you ten seconds to explain this, you'd better hope you can" He wasn't sure he'd been so angry, yet so disappointed in his whole life. He had always tried so hard to defend his brother's actions but this? This made him ashamed to have ever claimed to be related to him.

 

For once? Loki had nothing to say to him. There was no way he could possibly explain this in a way that made him seem innocent. 

 

"you know Loki, I really had faith that one day you would change. Abandon your wicked ways and finally allow yourself to be better than you are. But this? This is despicable, even for you"

 

It was only when the girl looked up Thor saw who was actually in his brother's grasp. She looked much older than the last time he saw her, concerningly much less full of life, but there was no mistaking who it was. After all, she looked just like her father. Dark chocolate eyes, thin pink lips that pressed together when she was thinking, the same expression on her face as Stark would often wear when he was troubled.

 

"Lady Y/N" Thor muttered in disbelief, quickly running over to the girl and shoving his brother out of the way in the process. "Hey little Stark," He greeted gently, pushing a few strands of her sweat-soaked hair out of her face. "I'm here to help"

 

He wasn't sure as to whether or not the youngest Stark would recognize him or not, after all she had been very young when she saw him last, but it seems he was wrong. A relieved smile broke out on her face as she released a nervous laugh. "Thor?" she asked as if she didn't quite believe it. His heart broke at the terrified tremble in her voice, and he wondered just how long Loki had been keeping her here. Another burst f anger pooled in his stomach, but he took a deep breath and forced himself to remain calm for the girl in front of him. He would deal with Loki later.

 

"yeah it's me kiddo," he reassured softly whilst he undid the restraints around her wrists. "are you with me, love? Can you hear me?"

 

Lacking the energy to speak, but understanding him perfectly, she nodded and allowed herself to fall into his arms once she was untied. Thor enveloped her in an embrace and held her tightly, so overwhelmed and upset by everything he'd seen in the last few minutes. "I'll get you out of here little Stark, but we need to leave now. Bruce and Valkyrie are waiting by the old Quinjet" he explained, picking her up and holding her head gently, supporting her legs with his other hand. She wrapped her limbs around him, holding on to the God like a koala, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. This was the first time in what felt like forever she could safely let her guard down, and she was exhausted.

 

Thor turned to Loki, holding Stark's girl protectively as he did. "Brother," he began, anger and disappointed obvious in his tone of voice. "if you know what's good for you, you will stay here. You will not bother the Stark's nor Midgard again. Unless of course, you'd like me to take you back with us and face her father yourself?" he questioned. Y/N whimpered at that suggestion. Of course, she wanted Loki to get what he deserved, but the idea of being around him any longer than necessary made her feel sick.  Thor didn't even give Loki enough time to answer before turning to leave.

 

"Loki," he said calmly, the voice of a protective big brother still inside of him no matter what Loki had done. "if you know what's good for you, you will follow my advice. I'll deal with you myself otherwise" he warned, and with that, he left, still holding tightly onto Y/N.

 

Their plan was already in action so getting the girl to the Quinjet was not as difficult as Thor first anticipated it to be. Of course, Thor wasn't expecting the D-tour, but he was so glad he'd found her before they left. Valkyrie had the Quinjet started and ready to leave for when he arrived, thanks to Bruce's voice recognition.

 

"Bruce," Thor yelled as he entered the ship. He saw Bruce turn quickly at the urgency in his voice, and his eyes widened in shock when he spotted the girl. "what the hell happened, Thor?" he asked, rushing over to the pair. It wasn't until he was close up and the girl turned her head tiredly he realized exactly who was in Thor's arms. "oh my god," he cried, not only seeing the girl he cared for on am an alien planet, but also seeing her so battered and bruised.

 

"What happened?" he asked Thor, brushing the girl's cheek ever so gently. If the tiredness in her eyes and the limpness of her limbs was anything to go by, Bruce knew she was in no state to answer questions herself. Sighing, he started to take deep breaths, the last thing he needed was the other guy to make himself known. However, it was almost impossible to avoid getting angry when Stark's poor little girl was so hurt. No, he _had_ to keep it under control, for her sake.

 

"I don't know why or how, but she was here this whole time" Thor explained, running his fingers through her mattered hair. "get me one of Stark's shirts, cover the poor girl up," he said softly. By now she was sleeping soundly with her head in Thor's lap as he gently brushed her hair with his fingers.

 

Bruce left and returned quickly with one of Stark's old shirts, covering her over nicely as it was far too big for her small frame.

 

"Valkyrie, is there any way at all we can get to Midgard faster? I'm afraid Lady Y/N is unwell,"

 

It turned out the wounds on her hands, left untreated, had become severely infected, which explained her wooziness. It seemed that once the adrenaline had worn off, and now that she was in a safe place with people she trusted, she was really starting to feel the effects of her injuries. Bruce has done his best to patch her up, but it was difficult with what limited supplies they had.

 

"Thor," Valkyrie had called form the front of the ship, uneasiness lacing her voice. "Thor!"

 

The god returned quickly, and what he saw left him bewildered.

 

"What in the name of Odin is that?" 

 


End file.
